Forget About the Android v.s. iPhone War, Look Out for the South Korean OS

There may be a new mobile operating system on the block soon, if the South Korean government gets its way, says TNW.

Citing Yonhap News, TNW reports that Kim Jae-hong, a deputy minister from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said that the country will look into a new open-source operating system after Google made the unexpected move of buying Motorola Mobility for a staggering $12.5 billion…

The deputy minister believes that even though Google’s purchase means Samsung and similar companies will be free from patent claims in the courts, nobody knows yet whether the search giant intends to use its new found hardware chops to go into competition with its current Android partners.

“Because Google is an open-source system, it cannot just switch over to a closed-source system overnight.

Still, we cannot completely rule out the possibility of Google jumping into the smartphone business in the future.”

It’s becoming obvious that even though Google’s partners are feigning indifference on the public front, it’s an entirely different story behind closed boardroom doors. Does Google plan to enter the handset market in a much more thorough way than its failed Nexus One experiment? Some would say that even Google doesn’t know the answer to that rather obvious question, and if that’s the case, second guessing one of the most powerful companies on the planet is going to be nearly impossible.

That’s a job for Samsung and its fellow Android partners, nevertheless.

Anyone got name ideas for a South Korean mobile OS?